Trinidad defeats Costa Rica 2-0 at U17s

LA CHORRERA, Panama -- Trinidad & Tobago kept its hopes up of reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship by recording a 2-0 Group B victory over Costa Rica on Monday night.

Andre Fortune scored in the first half and Brent Sam added an insurance goal for the Soca Warriors in the second half at Estadio Agustin Muquita Sanchez.

Goalkeeper Johan Welch, who plays for the Houston Dynamo Academy team, recorded the shutout for the Caribbean side.

Trinidad ended group play with three points (1 win, 0 draws, 1 loss0. The Costa Ricans (0-0-1, 0 pts.) face Canada (1-0-0, 3 pts.), 2-0 winners over Trinidad in its Saturday opener, in the final group match on Wednesday night.

The Ticos squandered a golden opportunity to take an early lead after Trinidad's Brendon Creed took down Arington Torres in the penalty area. Referee Armando Castro of Honduras had no hesitation pointing to the penalty spot.

On the ensuing kick, however, Costa Rica's Rory Rivera sent his attempt high over the net in the the seventh minute.

The Soca Warriors broke the ice in the 33rd minute with a goal from Fortune, who unleashed a low, 28-yard shot, a left-footed effort that he tucked just inside the right post and goalkeeper Jorge Jara for a 1-0 lead.

After coming up empty in the opening 45 minutes, the Costa Ricans came out of the locker room with much more energy to start the second half.

In search of the equalizer, Torres broke through the Trinidad backline and sent a shot that barely missed the right post in the 48th minute.

The Central Americans came close to knotting things up in the 65th minute when Torres headed a left-wing cross by Fernando Segura off the left post.

Trinidad made most of one of its few scoring opportunities in the second half. Segura fouled Aikim Andrews at the right edge of the penalty area. Sam launched an 18-yard free kick with his left foot that beat Jara to the near post and a two-goal advantage in the 79th minute.

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